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Activist risked safety to speak in Syria02:23

"As far as I know, (there were) four, (landing) around Aleppo and/or close to our border, but not in Turkey," said the official, who spoke on condition that he not be named because he is not authorized to speak on the record for military matters.

A NATO official told CNN that Syria had fired about half a dozen Scud-B missiles in the northern part of the country, one of which landed just 20 miles from the Turkish border.

The preliminary assessment is the Scud launches were aimed at rebel munitions storage sites, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the latest intelligence but declined to be identified because of its sensitivity.

NATO is in the final stages of preparing for a deployment of Patriot missiles from the United States, Germany and the Netherlands to Turkey for defense against Syrian Scuds that might threaten its neighbor.

Final site surveys are under way, and the deployment of six Patriot batteries in Turkey is expected to be completed by the end of January.

The Syrian civil war started in March 2011 when a government crackdown on civilian demonstrators morphed into a fight between the regime and rebels.

More than 40,000 people are estimated to have died in nearly two years of conflict.

At least 148 people were killed across Syria Friday, according to the Local Coordination Committee in Syria, a Syria-based opposition activist network.